Couple thoughts (sorry, trying to separate the quotes was giving me problem, so I added #s):
Sure, people overestimate the value of their time, but as this was on the Monday rush hour, a good number of these folk likely WERE on their way to work, so the value would’ve been calcuable in terms of time lost, not to mention missed appts, businesses that may not have opened on time, and the like. Hell, my first thought was that if I was stuck there after my morning coffee, I woulda pissed my pants!
You well identify the extremes, but I suspect it is more of a continuum than a dichotomy. I, for example, was not suggesting NO investigation/stoppage, but I questioned whether 5+ hours was excessive, also considering the time and number of people affected.
Yeah - that is the sort of economic calculation I was pondering. And I am not sure of my personal outcome. Just suggesting that at some point the scales tilt. Of course, it is likely impossible for responders to make this sort of calculation on the spot. And I doubt you’d want to have different procedures for a dead 55-yr old homeless unemployed person vs a doctor in her 30s.
I also think (not being a responder) that there could be some sort of calculation as to whether the full detailed diagram needs to be conducted in every case. But most responders above clearly disagree with such sentiment quite strongly.
I wish I had linked a photo I saw earlier which I can no longer find. It looked as tho the car and truck were in the rightmost 1-2 lanes of a 3 lane divided highway w/ shoulders on both sides. IIRC, it was near and entrance lane, so actually, my impression was that the car was on the R shoulder/in the merge lane, and the truck in the right lane. Looked to be enough room to at least allow 1 lane of traffic to pass using the L lane and shoulder. But - as I mentioned above, I recognize that increases the danger for responders.
I saw a video clip on one of the local TV stations later in the day on Monday, about the wreck; it showed that the two rightmost lanes (and the right shoulder) were still closed, and had both the wrecked vehicles in them, as well as emergency vehicles, and traffic was getting by (slowly) in the two leftmost lanes. I have no idea how long after the incident that video was taken, but it suggests that, at some point during the lengthy clean-up and investigation, the expressway was no longer completely blocked.
FOIA (Freeedom of Information Act) means that anyone with an ax to grind can request all of the documents related to any collision, no matter how long ago. The sort of calculation that definitively documents that detailed diagrams and photos (and analysis - you can’t analyze the collision without the diagrams and photos) don’t need to be done, so that charges of negligence aren’t made decades after the fact, would take as much time to do as the diagrams and photos. In fact, it would probably have to include the diagrams and photos. How do you prove that a collision is too simple to bother documenting with documenting it?
Emphatically, no! It is possible that driver error was partly or entirely to blame for the accident and for the severity of the consequences. It’s also possible that factors such as poorly placed, missing, or or ambiguous signage; signage obscured by overhanging foliage; poor visibility during bad weather; damaged pavement; dangerous curves; worn-off paint to demarcate lanes; steep road gradients; lack of guard rails; inadequate regulations (that permit too-high speeds or overloaded trucks, for example); and a million other factors that had nothing to do with the drivers, caused or contributed to the accident’s occurrence and/or severity.
Many of you seem to assume that a traffic crash always involves driver error, but this is wrong. By investigating the causes of a crash, public servants do more than seek someone to blame in a court case. They may be saving future lives by fixing previously unidentified infrastructure problems.
In the police officer deaths I mentioned above, they had a couple of obviously junior officers standing at the entrance of every freeway on ramp. 24 hours, guys just standing there next to the ‘closed’ sign. There was probably overtime involved too: “Hi family, I’ve finished my shift, now I have to stand outside for another 4 hours”
This is so true. A guy I worked with years ago was killed in an auto accident one night. He was driving a motorcycle, which I suppose is a form of “driver error”, but the local paper rans articles about it for a couple of weeks, and the real fault seems to have been a poorly signed intersection with terrible sight lines and a high speed limit. Apparently the locals had been complaining about it being too dangerous for years, but it took the death of a healthy young man to get a light installed.
I’m sure the investigation, which apparently showed that no one did anything very wrong, was instrumental in that.
===========
To answer the OP’s question, I don’t know what the police “investigate”, but I work in the insurance industry. Millions and millions of dollars change hands based on the results of those accident investigations. Things that we want to know include:
photos and sketches of the scene, so folks in the court can understand what the road looks like, what the sight-lines are, what impediments there are, etc.
physical evidence of the speed and direction each vehicle was traveling. That includes things like skid marks and where the debris ends up.
testimony from everyone who was involved, and any witnesses, ideally taken as soon as possible before memories fade.
evidence from the police as to whether anyone involved was under the influence, suffered a stroke or similar medical conditions that might have contributed, etc.
evidence from anyone as to whether the drivers were distracted by cell phones, food, make up, a bee in the cabin, etc.
evidence of signage, traffic signals, etc.
Evidence of the physical condition of the people involved. It’s surprisingly common for injuries to become more severe after talking to a lawyer. (Some injuries really do take time to manifest, but evidence of whether participants could walk away from the scene, whether they lost blood, etc. is still valuable.)
Evidence of the condition of the vehicles before they are towed away.
“Black box” data from the vehicles.
Probably other stuff that I’m forgetting, since I’m not a claims adjuster.
In the case of the O.P., on-ramps were locked up. The roadway was devoid of traffic. This is the only safe way to do a proper accident investigation.
As a retired E.M.T. I spent plenty of time crawling around car wrecks of all magnitude. Being on a high-speed roadway and dealing with a car wreck with other vehicle flying by at 75 mph is a daunting task. Long after I’ve left with the ambulance, Police/ State Troopers/ etc have to remain on scene.
The documentation of movement of vehicle(s), skid-marks, damage to other vehicles, shoulder rails, Jersey barriers and so on is all important. Not only for criminal cases but for civil cases as well. If illegal substances are involved in the causation of an accident, it can be the case that the evidence is ejected during the accident.
The most scrupulous scouring of roadway/ shoulder/ berm/ shrubbery may well reveal evidence.
It’s only annoying until it’s your Mom who got decapitated by a drunk driver. Then, by God, you want every scrap of evidence to have been properly documented, photographed on site and gathered.
Don’t be angry. Be grateful.
ETA: Even now, 15+ years after finishing my EMT career, I carry a LOT of road flares in the trunk. 2 flares? A waste. 8-12 flares? Useful for safely closing down a lane 1/4-mile back up from the accident scene.
Quite a few times I’ve pulled over before anyone else has arrived and have set about blocking out the lane of traffic. One car hitting another is bad. 3-6 other cars having high-speed impacts creates a fatal nightmare. Securing a lane to move traffic over AND make room for emergency vehicles is an early key necessity.
